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Monday, 29 August 2016

THE FINNIGAN EFFECT: A Guest Post by Mary T. Wagner

Writing has been an essential part of my
life for as long as I’ve been an adult. I’ve written for newspapers, magazines,
and courts of law. Who knew that now—as both a grownup and a
grandmother—writing about a kitten would let me channel my “inner child” with
such total abandon?!

I can’t claim to have been one of those
writers who “just knew” from the time they could read that they wanted to write
and to create their own stories.

To the contrary, I buried myself in books
as a child and was quite content to immerse myself in the stories that others
created—first all books I could find about horses; then mysteries featuring the
teenaged American sleuth Nancy Drew; and finally “regency romances” which
usually featured a very difficult hero and a plucky damsel who won his heart by
the last chapter. Quite often carriages and castles were involved. I grew up
with a great vocabulary…and very little to show in the way of my own imagination!

However, after drifting through my first
year in college as an “undeclared liberal arts major,” I took a stab at
newspaper journalism, relying on the occasional praise of others that I wrote
well in my earlier school assignments to crack open the door. After sitting
through my first reporting class, I was hooked. “That’s it, I’m home,” I
thought, and I eagerly rolled up my sleeves to practice writing snappy leads
and funneling facts into an “inverted pyramid style” of news writing.

I wrote for two major daily newspapers in
succession, keeping my prose short and clear, aiming to explain things at a
fourth-grade reading level. After I married and started a family, I switched to
freelance magazine writing, indulging in more complicated sentences and words
with three or four syllables. At the age of forty, I switched careers
completely and went to law school, where my early newspaper training served me
well in simplifying legal issues. And when I began my career as a prosecuting
attorney for the state, I quickly found that putting my legal arguments on
paper could be an advantage.

At every step of the way, writing had been
a tool to wield, to explain, to persuade, to illustrate. And then friends
talked me into starting to write a blog, “Running
with Stilettos,” where I finally began to write just for me…and to write
for fun!!

And then Finnigan showed up.

Every book starts with a small idea, but
Finnigan the Circus Cat started with an even smaller kitten. My youngest son
and his wife called from school shortly before they came home for the Christmas
holiday. They’d just adopted a kitten from a shelter. Given that my ex-husband
was deathly allergic to cats, could they park the wee little Finnigan at my
house for a few weeks?

I jumped at the chance! My household
already held two adult cats and a large dog, but there’s nothing cuter than a
kitten as the saying goes, and that window of “tiny and cute” only lasts so
long.

Finnigan was the tiniest kitten I’d ever
seen away from his mother’s side. So tiny, in fact, that I quickly realized
that the standard kitten chow the kids had brought home was too large for him
to eat with his tiny teeth and I raced to the nearest pet store for special
food that was almost as finely granulated as sugar.

For the next few weeks, my kitchen
resembled a circus act…literally. I had fenced off the kitchen to keep the dog
in there so that he didn’t bother—or step on—Finnigan. And so when it was time
to give the bigger animals their nightly treats, I stood in the kitchen like a
ringmaster and pointed to the far side of the gate. The cats soared over the
divider like lions jumping hurdles, while Finnigan perched on my shoulder like
a pirate’s parrot. Dog treats and cat treats dispensed, Finnigan and I could
retreat to the living room sofa for some quality time.

Inevitably, the new semester began and the
kids went back to school, taking Finnigan with them. But in another year, he was
back at my house for a half year while my son and his wife studied in Ireland.
By this time he had grown into a sleek young feline, with a narrow face, legs
that seemed a little too long for his body, and a long tail that draped like a
rope behind him. There was something about his coloring—smudges beneath his
nose like a mustache; grey and black stripes that resembled a leotard—and his
natural swagger that reminded me again and again of a circus performer
strutting around a ring.

The “circus” theme was naturally never far
from my thoughts, since one of my daughters is in fact a contemporary circus aerialist,
and somehow the thought of a foundling kitten in a circus setting just stayed
in my imagination. Eventually, in the swirl of selling my house, moving to
another, and hitting my marks in court, I began to write “Finnigan the Circus Cat.”
Writing the story was just the start of the project, however, as it developed
that I also drew the pictures inside the book that start every chapter. Call it
a confluence of poor timing, looming deadlines, and pure cussedness, but yes, I
rolled up my sleeves and summoned the vestiges of the sketching I did as a
child, and drew the pictures too!!!

What I DID NOT expect, however, after
getting this first book into print, was just how much the fictional Finnigan
would stay in my head as a constant source of happy thoughts!

I confess to doing “double duty” as my
print deadline for the first book loomed. I brought my drawing pad and pencils
and photographs of the real Finnigan with me to a law conference as time was
running out, and sketched pictures of kittens and mice to my heart’s content as
I trained my ear toward lectures on grim subjects such as “lethality
assessments” and “drug treatment courts.” I dutifully listened to presentations
about evidence and witnesses…while Googling pictures of mice in cute poses. Who
says you can’t multitask?

Back in “the real world,” there are any
number of sobering subjects to ponder from the time I get out of bed. Bills,
car maintenance, yard work. And let’s face it, on the job, the subject matter for
a criminal prosecutor is rarely the stuff of laughter.

But I find to my delight that as I drive
around town (or—gasp--as I sit in court waiting for the next case to be
called!), there’s a part of my brain that’s engaged with wondering what
Finnigan and his friends are going to be doing next. Just how are they going to
convince a pair of con men that a circus wagon is haunted? How exactly will
Leroy, the larger of the two mice (and a gentle soul quite sensitive about his
size,) impersonate a rat in the next book? Which of
Aesop’s fables will I work into the conversation in the third book, and how
will I stage a faceoff between a circus lion and one of the villainous neighborhood
cats?

I could go on and on…and in my head, I
certainly do! But for me it’s not just academic. Because as I feel the
“Finnigan Effect,” it’s always with the blissful memory of just how soft that real kitten was, sleeping in my lap, when he was
absolutely, totally brand new.

Mary T. Wagner

Award-winning author of When the Shoe Fits
(Essays of Love, Life and Second Chances), Heck on Heels, and more...

42 comments:

Well...I got up at 6:30 this morning...!Popped downstairs, stopping off in my pink bathroom on the way, put water in the the kettle..pink of course..! :). Lemon tea, EarlGrey, what else! Back to bed for half hour, watched the depressing news! To~day in a Bank Holiday Monday...mmmmmmM! What shall l do...I gave a shower, shave etc a miss..So, a large fry up is called for..just discussed breakies with Barbara recently..! :). Popped out and around my home, pruning back the Virginia Creeper...HeHe! After half hour, l foundthe front door...! :). Job done!

Then l thought...'wonder if anyone's posted'...Oh! My goodness! Whey~Hey! Golly! Gosh! Purrs! A pussy~cat called Finnigan...! Bless!x I've been up and down this post, like a barmaids apron..(am l aloud to say that)...! He's lovely...I~LOVE~KITTY~KITTIES! Their the most wonderful creature on the plant..."Willie..you've been through all that before". "Yes! Sorry". "And..Willie..your going on a bit". "Yes Sorry". :0).

The next thing l'm gonna do is research this book...You see..again..it's no secret..l don't read books, not..book..books! Loads of writing, and no pictures! The problem...Patience...I don't have any...l alwayssay.."I'd be patient, if l had the time". So, l read Ladybird books, Care Bear books..and so on...the heavy books..l wait till the film comes out! Yes! It's wicked l know! But!

Hi Willie, I just knew you would love Finnigan! Isn’t he the most adorable puss cat? I was up early too, and as I pressed the publish button on this post I thought to myself; I hope Willie sees this!Toast and tea again this morning – I only ever have a ‘big breakfast’ when on holiday – shame because I do love them.If you want to see more about Mary and Finnigan, I recommend a visit to Mary’s website (Running with stilettos) and Instagram page – links in post above. I spent a happy half hour looking at both last evening.Have a super Bank Holiday Monday, enjoy the fry up & think of me with my dry toast!!! ;-)

All done...I've sent the Amazon link to my daughter, she will order the book for me, and have been researching a bit of history!The Author, book etc...Great fun on a Monday morn'in...Time for another cuppa me thinks..! Thanks again...! :).

Barbara, you have done it again, posted another cracker.Mary, a really interesting insight into your life and that of Finnegan. Thank you for sharing. I envy you for two reasons, first your ability to multitask ( I just about managed it once when my wife told me to sit down and shut up. ) and secondly how you and other authors can remember and translate imagined scenarios into such interesting stories.

Morning John, I can take no credit at all for this, but it is nice of you to mention me. I’m envious of Mary too not because of the multitasking, I’m OK at that but the writing – how I wish! Enjoy the sunshine. Barbara

What a delight to read Mary's story here! I can relate in some ways about that feeling one gets when around books, especially in youth. It's a calling to feel this pull toward story telling, and a duty to follow the rigors of writing. Then we one can use inspiration (like that darling cat!) to help animate the ideas, then a book emerges. WELL DONE, Mary! And, good morning, Barbara!

And thank you Anita! There is SO MUCH of the real Finnigan in the fictional one--the long legs and tail, the "strut," the way he loves to pounce. In his second stretch at my house, he used to hide behind the furniture and then jump out like a giant vampire bat on the older, more sedate two cats just for something to do. The adventure continues...!

This was a delight to read - thank you Mary and Barbara. I can completely identify with, you, Mary as you spoke of that multi-tasking - dreaming up imaginative stories while also concentrating on the demands of your job. And I'm madly jealous that you're a talented illustrator as well as a writer! Best of luck with your Finnigan stories.

Thank you Sue! I drew (always horses) when I was a child, but there was, let's say, a "family malfunction" when I was teenager that was pretty cataclysmic and divided my life into "before and after." I think drawing was just something that got left behind for the most part. And so pushing myself to pick up a pencil and draw again has felt quite liberating...and like a lost piece of myself has been found. I'm glad you like the book and pictures!

Hi Tracy, I’m sure I make lots of mistakes in my blog posts. I try to be diligent, but it is so easy to read what you think is there rather than what is really there. I hope you will tell me if you spot errors in the future I would like the chance to put them right.Mary has no worries on that score.

Mary's story of Finnigan the Circus Cat, is just the sort of story that Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar would like to read to me. Of course, Penny would also point out all the wonderful illustrations.

My God, Finnigan was so cute then and such a handsome one now. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about Mary's journey in writing and how she juggled sketching for her children's book while at a law conference. Don't think I can multitask like you, Mary! Well done on finishing the book. Your cover is gorgeous and the sketches shown here are delightful, too!

Thanks for sharing Mary's story with us, Barbara. Have a wonderful weekend ahead! xoxo C.

Thank you for brightening my day, Barbara with this lovely story from Mary! The photos are adorable. Lucky Finnigan - wonderfully kind people to love and care for him -and he is the hero of a book all about him! I am so impressed, Mary by the way you went about writing as well as illustrating the book. Brava!

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About Me

This is where I share my collection of vintage
books, and other favourite things. I
also showcase new children’s books written by authors I admire. I am an
ex-bookseller, now full time blogger. My husband and I live in a small village
in Somerset, UK. Thanks for visiting. Barbara xx

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There are fairies at the bottom of our garden! It's not so very far away; you pass the gardener’s shed and you just keep straight ahead, I do so hope they've really come to stay. Rose Fyleman

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When little elves have cut themselves, or mouse has hurt her tail, or froggie's arm has come to harm, this herb will never fail. The fairy's skill can cure each ill and soothe the sorest pain; She'll bathe, and bind, and soon they'll find that they are well again. Flower Fairies of the wayside C. M. Barker.